Big East tourney to stay in Hartford

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT)

Published 8:00 pm, Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Ultimately, the tournament, which will now host all 16 teams, isn't going anywhere for the foreseeable future. The Big East announced Thursday during its Media Day festivities at the ESPN Zone that it has reached an agreement that will keep the event in Hartford through 2011.

"We are extremely pleased to have the Big East women's basketball championship remain in Hartford for another two years,'' Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese said. "We believe we have one of the premier women's basketball championships in the nation in terms of competitiveness and attendance.''

This is the second time the Big East and the XL Center, formerly known as the Hartford Civic Center, have worked out an extension. The initial deal, which was announced in October of 2002, ran from 2004 through 2006 before a three-year extension was announced in November of 2004.

This year's tournament will held March 6-10. Full session packages will be placed on sale Dec. 1 at all Ticketmaster outlets and at the XL Center box office.

"I'm excited for the people at the (XL) Center because I know how much it means to them, and I think the people at the (XL) Center are going to do an awful lot to make the (XL) Center the best place to have a tournament in the country,'' UConn coach Geno Auriemma said.

"Obviously, the last couple of years there's been some improvements there and there needs to be a lot more improvements. And for our fans and for the league, I think it's the best place to have it.''

Auriemma is hopeful that changes can be made to the concourses and the length of time fans are forced to wait for food and beverages. He would also like to see the locker rooms and the meeting rooms refurbished.

"There's an awful lot of stuff behind the scenes that I think are important and when you go to some of these other arenas around the country you can see why there's a big, big gap between what the (XL) Center can provide and what, for instance, the arena we played in in Tampa last year or when we were down at the University of Virginia or Maryland's new facility,'' Auriemma said. "I think that that's what coaches and players and fans are getting accustomed to now.''